2010 Childhood, Adolescent, Adult Immunization Schedules Released

New options for human papillomavirus, or HPV, vaccination are among the notable changes highlighted in the 2010 adult immunization schedule, which was released in the Jan. 15 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, or MMWR.

Developed by the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, in conjunction with the AAFP, the American College of Physicians, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the updated recommendations reflect a number of actions taken in 2009.

In October, the ACIP recommended routine use of Cervarix, a bivalent HPV vaccine manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals, or GSK, after it was approved by the FDA for the prevention of cervical cancer and precancerous lesions caused by HPV types 16 and 18 in girls and women ages 10-25.

Like Gardasil, Merck & Co. Inc.'s quadrivalent HPV vaccine, Cervarix is administered in a three-dose series. Cervarix does not protect against the HPV types that cause genital warts, but either vaccine can be used to prevent cervical cancer and precancerous lesions in young women.

The HPV footnote in the adult schedule also includes new information indicating that ACIP supports permissive use of the quadrivalent vaccine in males as old as 26 for the prevention of genital warts.

Similar updates about the new bivalent HPV vaccine in girls and young women and the use of the quadrivalent vaccine in boys and young men also appear in the 2010 adolescent immunization schedule, which -- along with the children's immunization schedule and the child and adolescent catch-up schedule -- was produced by the ACIP in conjunction with AAFP and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The 2010 adult schedule includes several other changes:

The childhood and adolescent schedules, which were published Jan. 8 in MMWR, both note the ACIP's preference for use of combination vaccines rather than separate injections of equivalent component vaccines.

Other changes to the children's schedule include revisions of recommendations for the inactivated poliovirus vaccine. The last dose in the series now is recommended to be administered on or after a child's fourth birthday and at least six months after the previous dose. If four doses are administered before age 4 years, a fifth dose should be administered at age 4 through 6 years.

Finally, revaccination with MCV4 is recommended for children who remain at increased risk for the disease. Children should be revaccinated after three years if the first dose was administered at age 2 through 6 years, or after five years if the first dose was administered at age 7 or older.